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Harris-Wheeler Collection
SC.AHDW
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Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives
Title: Harris-Wheeler Collection
Creator:
Harris, Alvin S. and Richard "Dick" Oliver Wheeler
Identifier/Call Number: SC.AHDW
Extent:
15.88 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1870-2000
Date (bulk): 1950-1979
Abstract: The
Harris-Wheeler Collection documents the efforts of Alvin S. Harris, an amateur
erotic photographer, and Richard "Dick" Oliver Wheeler, an enthusiast, to collect, share,
and sell cross-dressing and sexual fetish materials, including literature, photographs,
periodicals, catalogs, and other types of sexually explicit content. Notable figures
represented in the collection include Irving Claw, John Willie, Louise Lawrence, and
Christine Jorgensen. The bulk of the collection was created between 1950 and
1979.
Language of Material: English,
German,
French
Alvin S. Harris was an amateur erotic photographer, who lived in the San Francisco Bay
area. He specialized in "bizarre photography" and collected materials on cross-dressing,
lingerie, fetishes, and erotic literature. Beginning in the 1930s, he photographed much of
this material and sold it. Harris corresponded with many men and women active in
cross-dressing and trans culture and was a close friend to Louise Lawrence, well known trans
community organizer. When Harris married in the 1950s, his wife asked that he dispose of the
collection, and so he gifted it to his friend, Richard "Dick" Oliver Wheeler.
Dick Wheeler was born on July 16, 1916 in Montréal, Quebec, Canada to parents Richard
Howes and Rena Stacy (neé Oliver) Wheeler, who were American citizens living permanently in
New York State. Following high school, Wheeler trained as a mechanical engineer at the
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, and graduated in 1936. He later became a
development engineer with the Carborundum Company. His interest in model trains led him to
create two railroad displays for the 1939 New York World's Fair, "Railroads at Work" and
"Building a Railroad." He married Hannah Frances Blattman in 1943 and in 1945 the couple
founded Model Engineering Works, a manufacturer of model trains and kits. The company and
its owners moved to Monrovia, California in 1949. Wheeler was also a collector of erotic
literature and photographs. He donated a portion of his collection in 1998 and the remainder
in 2004. Dick Wheeler passed away in 2009.
The
Harris-Wheeler Collection documents the efforts of Alvin
S. Harris and Richard Wheeler to collect, share, and sell cross-dressing and sexual fetish
materials, including literature, photographs, periodicals, catalogs, and other types of
materials. The collection is divided into three series, Series I,
Cross-dressing and Trans Fiction (1923-1983), Series II,
Subject Files (1870-2000), and Series III,
Scrapbooks and
Binders
(1849-1954).
Series I,
Cross-dressing and Trans Fiction, consists of erotic
literature primarily featuring cross-dressing in sexual situations, bondage, discipline,
dominance and submission, and sadomasochism. This series is arranged alphabetically by title
of publication.
Series II,
Subject Files, consists of various types of
materials including catalogs, advertisements, and price lists, commercial publications,
newspaper and magazine clippings, drawings and illustrations, correspondence, and
photographic material , devoted to cross-dressing and sexual fetishism. This series is
arranged alphabetically by title.
Series III,
Scrapbooks and Binders, contains photographs that
feature specific themes such as sexual discipline, domination, and bondage, as well as
cross-dressing and particular articles of clothing, primarily lingerie, corsets and girdles.
Scrapbooks and binders have been deconstructed, but maintain original order. This series is
arranged alphabetically by theme.
Series I: Cross-dressing and Trans Fiction, 1923-1983
Series II: Subject Files, 1870-2000
Series III: Scrapbooks and Binders, 1949-1954
This collection is a part of the
Vern and Bonnie Bullough Collection on Sex and Gender.
The collection is open for research use.
Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of
this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge.
Copyright status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials
protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires
the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any
use rests exclusively with the user.
2004
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Alvin Harris and Richard Wheeler, 04/09/1998.
For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style
manual, or see the
Citing Archival
Materials
guide.
Robert Marshall, 2012
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Albums (Books)
Microforms
Documents
Photographs
Scrapbooks